Author: Jose Luis Acebo

Aruba Airwave is a powerful management system for both Wired and Wireless environments, and is also multivendor.

If you have a network infrastructure you will need a tool to manage how devices are behaving, network issues and metrics, traffic analysis, connected users, and deep dive into every detail, this is briefly Airwave [more details]

Airwave can be acquired as a Hardware Appliance [server] and installed in your Datacenter, if your infrastructure is big and needs some redundancy schemas you can even grow and scale, that is powerful.

BUT, if you have a virtual environment Airwave can be installed as a virtual machine for FREE, it only needs node licenses [LIC-AW] for every managed device. That is it.

The previous statement gets even better, because if you are a current Aruba mobility controller customer with bundled Enterprise Licenses [LIC-ENT], these already include Airwave node licenses inside [LIC-AW], so you can basically deploy Virtual Airwave for FREE.

Then, what are you waiting for? lets talk about that Airwave you didn’t know you have and lets use it, you will be thrilled about how much your life can change.

Are you ready to attend the Atmosphere ? Cause we are! And this time it promises to be one of the best events on this year.

The popular Aruba Networks event takes place every year and its mainly to bring together people from end customers, partners, distributors and fans to talk, develop, demonstrate and train on its innovative solutions.

Atmosphere 2018 is going to bring an excellent experience in each of its participants, who will discuss topics of interest related to wired and wireless networks, management, security, Internet of Things ( IoT ), mobile engagement and above all the integration between all these with a broad external ecosystem .

This represents the present and future for our generation who use mobile device to do almost everything in personal and business environments.

The Sessions:

The activities will be divided basically into 3 parts: Partners, Airheads and Trainings.Each one has its peculiarity.

Partners session prepares us to interact daily with our customers. As the main Aruba message says: ” CustomerFirst , Customer Last “we must be prepared to create a long term relationship with them, to use the available tools in order to achieve success in each project we carry out, with technical knowledge, success references, focus, guidance and continuity.

Airheads is oriented to deeper technical topics, live demonstration, open talks, integrations and releases of new functions for all product lines; in short this is the one if you are an engineer in pre-sales, post-sales or a final customer who needs to learn more about how to use Aruba.

Training session offers a chance to deepen knowledge and get prepared to present exams and obtain advanced technical certifications, to support our spot in the market.

The App

As the most important part of these activities is always people, Aruba has already programmed a Mobile application using Meridian to provide a unique experience, use it to:

Social Networking where you can have all the Tweets and photos related to the event, participants and announcements, they have even created a contest to add more fun.

Access to the application is sent by the organizing group, after having confirmed the participation.

Our Choice

On our side we are very interested in the new contents of UEBA [ User and EntityBehaviorAnalytics ], which is part of the Aruba 360 Secure solutionFabric along with the powerful Clearpass, and where the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning make a difference to bring specialized solutions to our customers, who may be suffering unknown problems and whose consequences could be incalculable.

We hope to find you in Atmosphere, we will be there to support you and experience this together.

The way business is done in vertical markets has continuously changed over the years. There were times when the voice announcement in the street was the gold standard. Today, the advent of the newspaper, television ads and most of all social media has revolutionized the business world overtaking and succeeding the previous trends along with Mobile Engagement Platforms.

Nowadays, almost every company from small to Enterprise Grade has a profile on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram. However, what comes after the social networks? Is it enough to have your business posted on the various social media platforms to ensure the survival in this technological world? How can one stand out? How can one take advantage of this situation and do things in a more intelligent way? These are some of the many questions that face the contemporary entrepreneur.

The Need:

Any product, either manufactured in our factory, purchased from a third party, or just basic or professional services needs a sales process. But how do we get our product sold over the many similar products from the competition? Every day this becomes harder to achieve and can be even worst with the threat of the Asian market and its low costs of production.

Here comes the game-changer; we need to promote our product wisely. It’s not enough to have an excellent product if it’s not sold in the way it should. It’s simple; customers need to know the product. The most efficient way to do that is by engaging them through their mobile phone.

The Objective:

Let’s take a look at the following fact: “Today we cannot get away from our phones because we have everything in there to survive.” As such, it’s obvious the businesses that want to succeed in an era where almost every transaction is done through the mobile phone must take advantage of it in any way, no matter what it is. As such, we can conclude that it’s healthy to analyze the following stages of preparation to engage our customers:

– Invest in infrastructure ready to attract and hook our clients.

– Knowing our customers and what they like and need, in an “intelligent database.”

– A “Can’t Refuse Offer” prepared to shoot when the client is on the proper boundary.

– The offer is acquired, and once again the customer becomes our most significant value.

– Rewarding customer loyalty through various benefits and thus ensure their return in the near future.

– Through the support services, we make sure that the client is happy. Customer satisfaction guarantees the future of our business, as it will earn us a good reputation; thereby promoting us in the market.

The overall objective is to achieve a cost-effective, flexible, and adaptable way to stand out.

The Solution:

After 2 years of HP Enterprise acquisition of Aruba Networks, the company’s vision to make this a valuable injection in the portfolio continues, and particularly with Meridian as the platform responsible for the hitch and analysis of data.

Meridian can simply be described as a “Software as a Service” Platform [typically known as SaaS], where customers can get benefit from a solution that is already developed with all levels of security, redundancy, and availability; without having to invest in the construction and maintenance of it. Let’s describe it in a simpler way: A small footwear shop would have to buy an entire computing platform, ensure energy services during the 365 days of the year, contact several internet links with a sufficient level of reliability, and hire services of implementation and support to achieve at least a small percent of what a SaaS platform can support.

To use Meridian, we must be clear of its components and how they work:

– App Maker: a platform hosted on HPE Aruba Networks cloud and available to all customers globally who need to create a customized application with simple and intuitive steps.

Figure 1: Meridian App Maker main screen.

– App Viewer: a free application available in the Apple and Google virtual stores, this allows the customer to test the application in progress and check all the changes in real time.

Figure 2: Meridian App Viewer Example.

– White Label Service: This is the process where Meridian posts the Final Application in the stores and it’s responsible for the security health checking, support, maintenance and availability for different locations.

– Beacons: Small Bluetooth devices installed onsite for detecting the proximity of users or guide them from spot A to B.

Figure 3: Battery Powered Beacons.

– Campaigns: These are built to be trigger by the beacons and then shoot messages to users through the application. Results can then be analyzed in terms of delivery, visualization, and follow-up.

– Analytics and Reports: A process that allows us to analyze the results of our work, and with which we can make smart decisions that can improve the effectiveness of the campaigns and promotions.

Figure 4: Meridian report examples.

The Results:

Through the use of Meridian for mobile engagement our customers have the opportunity to convert a budget spending project into an investment project in order to generate new streams of revenue and to grow profitability through the mutual benefits: The Client achieves what they need, and our Customers increase sales and get more prepared to continue the journey.

All of the above is credited to the data result analytics. Let’s get a better perspective via the following example:

A Grocery Store has many products for its client’s personal use, among which is the Toothpaste A. One of the Sales Specialists of the store achieves a Sponsorship Promotion with the Toothpaste A Manufacturer in exchange for a more convenient physical position in the store plus a notifications campaign to all clients’ phones entering and passing by the store. The notifications would inform them about the new promotion, and the beacons guide the client’s step by step toward the Toothpaste A products. At the end of the day, the campaign analysis shows that the sale of promotional products suffered an increase the reports can be sent to the Toothpaste A Manufacturer for support documentation. Finally, everyone is happy, the manufacturer, the sales specialist, the Store team and, above all: THE CLIENT. This is a scenario where everyone wins through the Mobile Engagement service.